Jess

Chapter 24

THE SHADOW OF DEATH

The firing from the bank had ceased, and John, who still kept his head,

being a rather phlegmatic specimen of the Anglo-Saxon race, knew that,

for the moment at any rate, all danger from this source was ended. Jess

lay perfectly still in his arms, her head upon his breast. A horrible

idea struck him that she might be shot, perhaps already dead!

"Jess, Jess," he shouted, through the turmoil of the storm, "are you

hit?"

She lifted her head an inch or two--"I think not," she said. "What is

going on?"

"God only knows, I don't. Sit still, it will be all right."

But in his heart he knew it was not "all right," and that they stood in

imminent danger of death by drowning. They were whirling down a raging

river in a cart. In a few moments it was probable that the ca